Three Senators unveil pro-plug-in hybrid FREEDOM Act
It's got a good and a bad name.
Amid the CAFE debates going on this week, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) unveiled the FREEDOM Act yesterday. That's how it's going to be known in the press, and I'd say for a politician, "Freedom Act" is a darn fine name to have attached to one of your bills. But, as you'll note by the ALL CAPS, this piece of legislation follows the pattern of awkwardly-named bills designed to have clever acronyms. In this case, it's the "Fuel Reduction using Electrons to End Dependence On the Mideast." Sigh.
Anyway, what's in the bill? Three main parts and an extra tidbit. We'll get the tidbit out of the way first: the bill talks about PEDVs, which means Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicles like pure battery electric, extended range electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and plug-in fuel cell vehicles. So, there's another name we can start getting used to.
As for the three main parts, the Freedom Act will provide "significant" tax credits to purchasers of PEDVs, tax incentives for the U.S. production of PEDVs and PEDV dedicated parts; incentives for electric utilities to provide rebates to customers who purchase PEDVs; and give utilities producing the greenest energy the largest incentives.
The tax credits grow as the weight of the car goes up ($7,500 for a car under 10,000 pounds GVW, $10,000 for 14,000, and up to $20,000 for 26,000 pounds). Also, the credits stop once 250,000 PEDVs are sold in the U.S. When do you think that will be?
You can read Hatch's press release here.
The Electric Drive Transportation Association is naturally in full support of this legislation. In their press release (available after the jump), EDTA President Brian Wynne said, "Senator Hatch's leadership and vision for advanced transportation has been critical to the growth and expansion of electric drive technology. The FREEDOM Act's comprehensive approach to the electrification of transportation will result in real reductions in oil consumption and greenhouse gases, and real increases in energy security and environmental quality. Senator Cantwell and Senator Obama have demonstrated their commitment to transforming transportation through their co-sponsorship of this bill."
We'll have more on this as it moves through the process. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) has got similar legislation (H.R. 1331) going in the House.
[Source: Sen. Orrin Hatch's office, EDTA]
EDTA Applauds FREEDOM Act for Development of Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicles
Introduced today by Senators Hatch, Cantwell, and Obama, the bill will help to commercialize all plug-in electric drive vehicles – battery, hybrid, and fuel cell – and support expanded U.S. manufacturing capacity for advanced vehicles and components.
EDTA is the multi-industry trade association promoting battery, hybrid and fuel cell electric drive technologies and infrastructure. Its membership includes automotive and other equipment manufacturers, utility companies, technology developers, component suppliers, and government agencies.
The FREEDOM Act aims to increase U.S. manufacturing capacity for advanced vehicles and components, help consumers purchase these advanced vehicles, and support the efforts of utilities to expand plug-in electric drive vehicle ownership. Together, these incentives will help the United States to address the challenges of oil dependence and climate change.
"Senator Hatch's leadership and vision for advanced transportation has been critical to the growth and expansion of electric drive technology," says EDTA President Brian Wynne. "The FREEDOM Act's comprehensive approach to the electrification of transportation will result in real reductions in oil consumption and greenhouse gases, and real increases in energy security and environmental quality. Senator Cantwell and Senator Obama have demonstrated their commitment to transforming transportation through their co-sponsorship of this bill."
About EDTA:
The Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) is the trade association representing battery, hybrid and fuel cell electric drive technologies and infrastructure. EDTA conducts public policy advocacy, education, industry networking, and international conferences. EDTA's membership includes automotive and other equipment manufacturers, utility companies, technology developers, component suppliers, and government agencies. For more information about EDTA and its members, visit www.electricdrive.org.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bantonov_ibm 3:34PM (10/20/2009)
Are there any thinking people left on the world? Who can answer the eight simple questions bellow appropriately and do you think these aspects of the "green" energy have already been considered in the bill?
1. How do you think the electrons are built and delivered to your home? - Using fuel...
2. Where are the electricity transportation losses going? - To the atmosphere as heat...
3. Where are the losses from converting the fuel to electricity going? - To our rivers, 4. ocean and atmosphere as heat.....
4. How "green" is to use ACID batteries to collect and preserve electricity? - Not so green I believe...
5. How "green" is to use heavy metal known to cause cancer and prohibited in the state of California as build material in the battery? - not so green, isn't it .....
6. Who will take care of disposal and recycling of the batteries, a very "dirty" and economically ineffective process? - So far nobody and nobody counts the cost on it....
7. Who will pay for this electricity and all surrounding costs that will build up around it? - YOU....
8. How do you think the cost of electricity will move after all you start using electrical energy instead of gas? - Will jump up as a new uncontrolled and out of competition environment will be established....
All this is just another way to move money from one pocket to another. I wish it will move some into my empty pocket, but am very skeptical on this possibility.
Reply
jeremie 7:57AM (6/16/2007)
FREEDOM
Make me laugh
Freedom fries
Freedom toast
And now
Fuel Reduction using Electrons to End Dependence On the Mideast
Can you say... Oups Iraq didn't work out the way they planed.
If they were doing it for the right reasons it would feel better. But at least something is being done.
Reply
susan.kraemer 7:29PM (6/15/2007)
Finally! Get your Senator on board with this, it could make the difference to the development of a real EV for America! It also covers your hybrid conversions and autoshops and EV production factories here.
"Freedom Plug-in Credits would cover the consumer purchase of vehicles which use batteries and which plug into the electric grid for at least part of their power. This would include plug-in electrics, plug-in hybrids, and others. The amount of the credit would be based on the kilowatt hours of the vehicle's battery pack, with a cap of $7,500 for passenger vehicles. The same is true for heavier duty vehicles, except that the caps are scaled up for each vehicle weight class.
Freedom Conversion Credits would go to hybrid-electric vehicle owners who choose to convert their vehicle to a high quality plug-in hybrid. These credits would also be scaled to the kilowatt hours of the new battery installed in their vehicle. Only high quality conversion kits, which are certified to meet all highway safety and emissions standards would qualify for a Freedom Conversion Credit, and the credits would be available until the market transitions toward commercially available plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The FREEDOM Act also offers first-year expensing for companies setting up production capacity in the United States for plug-in electric drive vehicles and for major components of those vehicles.
Finally, in the case that an electric utility in the U.S. chooses to offer rebates to customers who purchase plug-in electric drive vehicles, the FREEDOM Act would reimburse the utility for part of that rebate in the form of a Freedom Utility credit. The amount of the government reimbursement would be based on the rate of greenhouse gas emissions for each utility."
The Japanese government got hybrids going by paying HALF the cost for early adopters.
So far they have Kerry, Salazar, Stabenow...if you want EVs now is the time to call your Senator to vote for The Freedom Act.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) has introduced similar legislation (H.R. 1331) in the House, and expects the Ways and Means Committee to consider it by the end of the month.
The Senate Energy Bill gets voted on next week, this is part of it if we bug our congresscritters.
www.congress.org to find yours, both House and Senate or call Monday(202) 224 3121
Reply
Altairian1 8:16PM (6/15/2007)
Very good news for Altairnative energy braves who sticked their necks out while the BigOil/Big Threes went around brandishing their machettes(CARB hearings anyone).
Kudos to Dr Gotcher in particular.The Lightning(GTS) shall strike soon.
Reply
Chris M 12:26AM (6/17/2007)
This bill (as described above) appears to have a major flaw, that is: "The tax credits grow as the weight of the car goes up". That would mainly benefit the very largest and least efficient "plug-in" vehicles - think "Hummer Hybrid" with just a few miles EV range. They may barely qualify, but would still get the bigger tax rebates!
A much better proposal would be to base the amount of tax credit on the Kwh rating of the storage medium.
Reply
susan.kraemer 4:51PM (6/16/2007)
I suspect that name "Fuel Reduction using Electrons to End Dependence On the Mideast" was devised to try and sell this bill to Republican Senators, who generally pooh pooh global warming as they have no experience with science.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/05/warming-13-percent/
However at least they DO understand "dependance on foreign oil"
So call it whatever, but IN ORDER to PASS it name it so Republicans can see some reason for it. CO2 emissions they simply do not understand.
Reply
lawtrainee 12:51PM (6/18/2007)
what is so great. In California the electric bill has a penalty when we use it over a certain limit, it jumps from $100 a month to suddenly $500-700 when I run the AC and go over some threshold. What the fuck do I want an electric car for? So I can pay 3-4 times more in electricity when charging at my house?
I'll never buy one until Ca utility companies remove their tax on electricity consumption.
Reply
Tim 12:10PM (6/18/2007)
As long as these "lawmakers" can add hidden PORK now called "earmarkes" to any law, I'm sceptical and even a little afraid of every law.
Reply
Scott Nance 4:27PM (6/20/2007)
I wanted to alert you to this video on Energy Policy TV featuring Sen. Orrin Hatch discussing his Freedom Act bill, which would bolster U.S. development of plug in vehicle technology:
http://www.energypolicytv.com/transportation.html
Click on “Sen. Orrin Hatch Briefing on Electric and Hybrid Cars” to view the video.
Reply
Timothy 6:02AM (6/23/2007)
#7, lawtrainee, wrote: " In California the electric bill has a penalty when we use it over a certain limit, it jumps from $100 a month to suddenly $500-700 when I run the AC and go over some threshold. What the fuck do I want an electric car for? So I can pay 3-4 times more in electricity when charging at my house? "
The reason AC is metered (on some plans) is because when people run their AC, they tend to do it all at once in the middle of the day. This puts a lot of strain on the power grid. If you have a meter on your AC, it's because you're using a plan where you get a much cheaper 'peak hour' rate so long as you agree not to use much while on peak. :P
Most (all?) utility companies offer plans that have much lower rates for off-peak hours. Most people that use a PEDV will be charging when they are asleep. (off peak hours) For those that just want to plug in whenever they get home from work and not think about it, obtaining a timer switch to regulate when the car actually charges is trivial. Tesla representatives have calculated their batteries could be recharged for $3-$4 of off-peak electricity in CA. (~200 miles worth)
Rate of adoption and production ramps mean it will be many years before the strain of EVs charging at night comes anywhere near the strain of AC running during the day. Meanwhile more and more research into energy creation and storage will be taking place. solar cells are getting more efficient and cheaper to produce all the time, and there's a lot of intersting work being done in low-air-speed vertical shaft wind turbines. There's also nuclear fusion projects well under way, and if they work, energy costs may well become neglegable long before EVs ever become a burden on the existing infrastructure.
Sure EVs might not meet everyone's needs immediately, but think about it this way: The first cell phones were ugly, heavy, unreliable, and the battery died quickly. The first portable music devices held around 12 songs. The first computers had 2 color displays and no internal storage. Real innovation with electric vehicles will come from the same minds that made all of these things so much better so quickly. All it will take is a few seeds like Tesla to get it started.
I think that EVs can and will take off, regardless of incentives. Of course adoption will be faster if the government helps pay for the construction of plants, and gives rebates to early adopters, but there's already enough interest by the public, just no motivation on the part of the established car makers.
Reply